I'm writing this before watching the hope arc final episode, so maybe it could still all be ruined/saved.
A quick spoiler free review:
As with the despair arc, if you're not a fan of danganronpa you won't be a fan of this. Only watch this (in conjunction with the despair arc) if you have already played/watched a let's play of danganronpa 1 and 2. Ultra despair girls is also referenced, so you could also play first that if you really like danganronpa or really hate yourself.
It's more danganronpa, a new killing game with a mostly new cast. The new cast range from completely forgettable to completely stupid, with some even reaching the level of being somewhat good characters. It has some twists as is expected from danganronpa at this point, I was spoiled for most of them already so I can't really judge how well they land.
Now for the spoiler talk:
Firstly, the cast:
Some of the cast are fairly unimportant/uninteresting and are kinda just there. The great Gozu and daisaku bandai had so little screen time that I almost forgot about them before I looked back at the cast list. Gozu is a wrestler and Bandai has a really annoying stupid voice (I watched the dub). Hagakure doesn't really have much to do beyond provide some occasional comic relief, which to be fair he is good at.
The rest of the returning hopes peak survivors are all good. Rip kyouko.
The ruruka-seiko-izayoi honestly take up too much screentime for what they are. They even use up an episode of the despair arc. Of the three, ruruka had most of the personality and I was not a fan. How she ended up leading a division of the future foundation, I'll never understand (although the same could be said for most of its leadership). Seiko was also given some personality and is vaguely entertaining with her superdrug fueled turbo crashout. Izayoi was tragically born without a personality and serves only as an external component of ruruka.
Sakakura-munakata-chisa are the better trio. It probably helps that they are given a lot of time in the despair arc too. I actually like all three of them. Of the new characters in the anime, I think these three, mitarai and kizakura are the only ones I actually like.
Kizakura! He's fun, I like him.
Mitarai! idk why but I like mitarai. There's something about how he always looks and acts like he's on the verge of breaking down that makes him snapping at the end work for me. I liked him in the despair arc too, he's probably the new character that's had the most development.
Tengen! I hate him. The worst mastermind in the franchise. I would genuinely have preferred for him to have just been brainwashed into despair and to be doing all this for despairs sake then his eventual motive. It's so stupid. The anime tries to do this thing with "he didn't know mitarai would be there", but if he invited every other director and presumably didn't explicitly tell mitarai not to come, why is he that surprised!? Why didn't he stop the game, or move mitarai outside or something to prevent risking mitarai being killed!? If he didn't know mitarai would be there, why did he have a wristband ready for him!? Why is he so stupid, is there a lore reason!?
Tengen's motive is so stupid. Drive mitarai into despair so that mitarai will use brainwashing video to brainwash everyone into "hope". As mentioned, he included mitarai in the killing game. What was his plan for if munakata just killed mitarai? He also just completely lacks the presence that other masterminds have had. By already being dead before his reveal he gets no time to actually be the mastermind beyond 1 video where he very unconvincingly gives a little despair speech.
The game itself:
I like the game and its' twist. Compared to other mutual killing games, there is no killer and participants are brainwashed into suicide. That might feel like complete bullshit, and it kinda is, but it has sufficient buildup throughout the despair arc that it works. I like the inclusion of forbidden actions, they add another level of strategy to the game beyond just solving the mystery of "who" the attacker is.
Ultra despair girls:
Why are they here? It feels weird they get a whole episode that basically serves very little point beyond giving udg fans some more content. basically the only thing their diversion gives us is monaca being a red herring and a cryptic warning. It was an alright episode in a vacuum, but it kinda just used up space that could've been used to develop the new cast some more.
Other stuff:
The action was surprisingly good at times. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but considering I had zero expectations I was pleasantly surprised.
Overall, it's far from perfect but is a generally enjoyable affair for people who like death games and Danganronpa in particular.
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